Horrors On Riverside Drive

As Lilian drove down the beautiful road on a sunny afternoon she rolled down her window to get a gasp of the fresh air that was flowing down the mountains and off the nearby lake and trees that lined the highways. Lilian didn’t look back; Not until her jeep sped past the boarder of Ohio, leaving her college days and the last four years of her life behind her. She shared great times and many smiles, but the time had come for her to return home.

Her mother and father who had readied her room, all the way in Maine, waited in absolute euphoria for the return of their little girl. A graduate and bright young woman, with a world of smarts and a right sense of direction. The sky never seemed so blue before.

There was a cool and warm feeling in the air as she pulled though the many miles, closer and closer to home. A little while down the road she began to notice tall black figures peeking out from behind trees as she darted by in her car. She shrugged it of and continued on.

The drive would go swiftly, especially since Lilian had managed to avoid any traffic. Just her luck. This whole trip was going her way!

Lilian was on her way to good-old Riverside; A small harbor-community on the ocean where fishermen of all sorts went about their daily jobs with glee, for the great market led to many successful careers and a prosperous town. She remembered her parents and how they’d always lived in the old house on Marker Street. She thought back to her happy home and the love of her family; The friends who were waiting and all the memories.

She planned to stay for a time before heading out on her own again. Even in leaving she would never forget her home. The marvelous place that made up her childhood.

Lilian even decided to make time for her grandmother. One of the many loves of her life who was living in their old home. In perfect health, her grandmother was a gleaming idol to Lilian, who she modeled much of herself after.

This trip was to be amazing. The sun grew brighter and the clouds were at their whitest. The day was perfect.

She turned on the radio to hear her favorite song. Her brand new radio and sound system lit up the car and lightened the mood. This drive was a gas.

She thought back to her little brother, Samuel. She thought of how happy he’d be to see her. He’d be about thirteen now.

To her sides there was farmland and open fields that led up into the mountains. The road became hilly as she cruised by rivers and over the beautiful countryside bridges. There were animals like deer and rabbits and even a beaver or two, playing in the woods.

The sights and sounds were almost hypnotic. All would have been peachy, if not for this stage feeling Lilian had. Almost as if she was being watched.

Watched from afar by things that made her feel uncomfortable. But, she digressed. Changing the radio, another favorite of hers came one.

A few moments later there came a strange sound in the air. The deserted road began to shake, almost as if going into a wave of heat, like something you’d see by looking out at a far distance on a hot day. She pressed past this weird feeling in her head and tried to stay straight on the road.

The noise grew, like the ringing of her ears. Suddenly the air began thick and she began to feel heavy, as if being under water or passing though some bizarre stream of air. Then, in a second it stopped and she continued driving with no curiosity or opinion on what'd just happened.

Lilian was inching mile after mile to Riverside; A boating community which had been left abandoned for a time. The fishing was terrible and the ocean off the shore seemed almost dead to anyone who tried and make a living for themselves. The town was a place of failed ventures and mistaken investments, where everyone dangled on bankruptcy and foreclosure was god.

She remembered her parents and their separation. Their hate-filed marriage that spanned her entire childhood. She planned for this to be a quick trip.

Planning to leave Riverside as quickly as she had arrived. Lilian would visit her mother first, living out of the debt-drowned basement of her sickly grandmother’s house. She would then visit her father, who was most commonly found at the local bar, waiting to be thrown out at about eleven at night for refusing to leave after clean-up.

To get her mind off of everything she trend on the radio. The first station spewed out songs she couldn’t stand, and in the mountains the only other thing she could get on her busted-old transistor was static. The looming sense of irritation got her to thinking about her home life again.

She remembered her old home on Market Street and how it had been condemned. She had always been an only child, but her friend Samantha felt more like a sister than anything else. She’d be about twenty-three now.

Lilian always dreaded coming back home. After dropping out of college she figured she could swipe some cash off her grandmother. Just enough to get her to the next town or blow over a night in a motel, avid on avoiding her grandmother.

Lilian doubted she’d be happy to see her, as when she left for college, Lilian had gotten into a great argument with Sam. A little while down the road Lilian began to notice tall black figures peeking out from behind trees as she drove by. She shook a bit, but trued to pay them no mind.